'Under the Dome' gets return date, deaths promised

CBS’ summer hit Under the Dome has a premiere date for season two: The drama thriller based on Stephen King’s bestseller returns Monday, June 30.

The premiere is written by King himself and a CBS promo shown to critics at the Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday teased that two characters wouldn’t survive the first episode. The promo also noted that Dome will move beyond the events in King’s novel starting with the second season.

CBS is doubling down on the success of Dome for this summer and launching another sci-fi summer scripted thriller: Extant, which, like Dome, includes Steven Spielberg among its executive producer ranks. Extant is described as a mystery thriller about a female astronaut (Halle Berry) trying to reconnect with her family when she returns after a year in outer space. The drama will premiere Wednesday, July 2.